


A Beautiful Murder

by Kaykic



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender, Rise of Kyoshi - Fandom, Shadow of Kyoshi - Fandom
Genre: Black Mercy AU, Domestic Fluff, Dream life, F/F, Fluff and Angst, It's A Wonderful Life AU, Rangshi - Freeform, Yunshi (formerly), Yunshi Bromance currently
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-11 23:02:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29625369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaykic/pseuds/Kaykic
Summary: The various Daofei Leaders have come to realize that they can't take Kyoshi out the traditional way. Between the scary bodyguard, and morally grey honor code the Avatar lives by, an physical assault is not worth the risk.Besides, Avatar Kyoshi is Daofei herself, a sworn member of the brotherhood. As their sister, she deserves to be dealt with in a more compassionate way.There is an expensive and rare drug, one that lets the user mentally live out their best life. Use too much (and that's not a lot) and the user will stay in the hallucination until their body fades away. It's a beautiful way to die. Avatar Kyoshi will be so grateful.
Relationships: Kyoshi/Rangi (Avatar)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 42





	A Beautiful Murder

** Day 9,125 in the Era of Yun **

10:00A.M.

Kyoshi was roused from a deep sleep by a warm hand on her forehead. Mind foggy from sleep, she was slow to open her eyes. Her wife was kneeling over her on their bed, a troubled look on her brow. The freckled woman still couldn’t stop a dumb, sleepy grin from forming on her face. Rangi was beautiful in the morning light whether she was happy, angry, or worried.

“Are you feeling okay? You’re never in bed this late.” It was Rangi’s nature to worry, and she would never be convinced to stop. _‘It’s what makes me such a good bodyguard’_ , she’d say. Of course she would remind Rangi that her sworn duty was to Avatar Yun, not her; it never helped.

Kyoshi took note of the sunlight in the room and understood why Rangi would be worried. She rarely stayed in bed until dawn, even then only on their day off when she convinced her beautiful wife to get a warmup with her before going to her actual training. But the sunlight wasn’t the only thing that was...off. Something else in the room looked funny, the Governor just couldn’t put her finger on it yet, “What’s different in here?” she asked, looking around the immaculate room for something missing or out of place.

“Nothing. Kyoshi, I want a healer to look over you. Right now.” Rangi grabbed the outfit Kyoshi had set out last night, “Let’s get you dressed.” It was the clay toy sitting on the shelf, the earthbender realized. She’d broken that. It couldn’t be here. Except, no, that wasn’t right. It was the third toy. She’d stolen the first. Then after Kelsang earned her trust, he traded her the avatar’s heirloom for a replica. Finally, this one, given to her to replace the second one that she’d destroyed with her bending.

“No, no.” she sat up in bed, chilled at the early spring air, “I think I’m just recovering from a strange dream.” The tall woman accepted the offering of clothes and began to dress for the day, “You’d never believe it. I was the Avatar.”

“I had a dream like that once, too. We were flying over the ocean and I threw Yun and you off the bison with my airbending and laughed all the way to Ba Sing Se.” she helped her wife with her layers, not because the woman needed assistance. Rangi liked to be a thoughtful partner, and Kyoshi rather enjoyed the attention. 

“Wow, thanks a lot.” She said sarcastically with a little laugh. Now the theater makeup and golden fans didn’t seem so weird.

“I’m sure everything was fine, he’s a master air and waterbender.” It’s not like Rangi would ever do anything to hurt either of them, not even in her wildest dreams.

“Not if you were the Avatar!” she pointed out with a false sense of accusation, “You threw two earthbenders into the ocean to drown!”

“He’s resourceful. I’m sure he would save himself, and you, too.” She scoffed, not at Kyoshi, but at herself, “Why are we even debating this? It was a dream, probably brought on because you two can’t stop annoying me.” The firebender crossed her arms, raising her chin with righteous validation.

“You make it too easy.” She took advantage of Rangi’s pose and snuck in a quick kiss to the neck. And then another. And maybe just one more behind her ear.

“Quit that.” She said, pushing Kyoshi away as the blush reached her ears, “I have to get back to work. And if you’re not going to see a healer, you have to meet Yun for breakfast.”

“But I don’t want to.” She pouted. She loved Yun, truly. She owed him nearly as much as she owed Kelsang. But lately he’d been a bit more unbearable than usual.

“It’s your birthdays, Kyoshi.”

“We never celebrate mine at the same time.” She had brokered the agreement with her flame after the big revelation came; Yun and Kyoshi were born on the same day. The guard had been furious that Kyoshi ignored her own birthday to make sure that Yun had the best day of his year. After weeks of debate of personal worth verses duty, Kyoshi agreed to ask for the day after their birthday off to observe her own rotation around the sun.

“You shouldn’t need to postpone your own day. Besides, he says he has to speak with you about something important.”

Kyoshi groaned. It was long and loud and full of frustration, “He’s probably going back on his word again.”

“I don’t see why you make such a big deal out of it.”

“He gave me his word as the Avatar not to get me anymore gifts.”

“Let him, Kyoshi.” Rangi could never understand why Kyoshi was so dead set on not getting any gifts from Yun. The tall oaf believed it was because his last two presents were so extravagant that they should count towards a whole lifetime’s worth of birthdays, and then some into the next life. The firebender had yet to get it through her wife’s thick head that the gifts weren’t so extravagant from a wealthy Avatar’s perspective. And even if they were, Kyoshi deserved nice things; Rangi had a feeling she would spend her whole life trying to beat that lesson into her stubborn wife’s skull, “So what if he wants to give you something special?”

“It can’t be more special than what he got me last year.” She grinned a lopsided smile, grabbing Rangi’s hands. The warm thumbs of the firebender instinctively rubbed over Kyoshi’s smooth skin. Wait, was something missing here? This felt wrong....good, but wrong. Rangi couldn’t know that. She’d take her to the healer if she had to drag her every step of the way.

“Are you okay?” Rangi never missed anything, did she? A brief moment of confusion was enough to reignite suspicion.

“Yes, I was just thinking about last year’s gift.” It wasn’t the gift itself, actually it was pretty horrible. He’d given her a title: “Governor Kyoshi”. She was now in charge of the peninsula that she lived on. Wow, because Kyoshi always expressed a deep desire to be in charge of people...yay. She did her best to act appreciative, to take her new position as nobility with pride and grace, with no success.

Yun had laughed way too loudly at the horrified look on his tall friend’s face, the twitch of her features as she tried to physically force her pained expression into one of joy. His head was thrown back and tears were streaming down his face. If he didn’t stop soon, surely he would pass out from the lack of oxygen, but he couldn’t get himself under control; not even to explain why he was finding so much humor in her distress. She remembered blushing deeply as he handed her a scroll, knowing she was at the butt of a joke but not understanding what the joke was. She read it aloud as he tried to catch his breath.

It had been a proposal endorsement. Yun had given her a title so that he could broker a marriage between her and her noble girlfriend. In all the world, was there, or had there ever been another person who’s dream marriage was arranged by their ex-boyfriend? Truly Kyoshi was the luckiest woman in the world to have such a friend as Yun.

In the following months, he’d negotiated a deal with Clan Sei’naka and put together a wedding like the Fire Nation had never seen before. In fact they’d just received a letter from one of Rangi’s cousins; after nearly a month of hard work, they were finally finished cleaning up the mess left from the festivities. Never let it be said that Avatar Yun didn’t know how to throw a good party.

And before that she’d never thought Yun could top the small, but private, guesthouse that he bequeathed to her the year before. Granted, it helped out his staff as a whole, with Rangi living in the barracks and Kyoshi in the servant dormitories, Yun was getting a lot of complaints about them. Getting them a room away from everyone else was the easiest way to bring harmony back to his household.

“I don’t think he should give me anything else.” She’d received more in the last two years than she should have received in her entire life. “I have more than I could’ve ever hoped for already.” In one swift motion, Kyoshi picked Rangi up and tossed her on their bed. She used her weight to pin the guard down and stole a deep kiss, but Rangi was not tolerating anymore.

“I’m on duty, Rocks-for-brains.” She said looping her leg around to give a light kick to the back of Kyoshi’s thigh, “If anything happens while I’m here-“

“It won’t. You left Yun with people you can trust.” There’s no way Rangi would ever leave her post unless she had doubled the guard first, why should Kyoshi be worried? “It **_is_** my birthday, as you like to remind me.”

“Get off me now.” She grunted. Well that was a solid no. And no meant no. Kyoshi conceded, lifting herself off her wife with disappointment, “We’ll celebrate your birthday later, I promise. Now come eat. You’ll need your energy.” She winked.

“At your orders, Captain.” Kyoshi gave a mock salute and followed Rangi out of their house. Kyoshi never missed the servants’ stares from the shadows as they made their way to the mansion. If her former coworkers used to be jealous of her for her connections, they were furious now. Now she was a Lady, a noble in two nations, a permanent guest of the Avatar, one of his main companions, his student, his friend. They looked at her like she was nothing but a con artist and/or a successful gold digger. 

Kyoshi hated that reputation, she didn’t ask for anything she’d been given, not even Yun and Rangi’s friendship. She honestly didn’t know what they saw in her, but she was beyond grateful for them both. Her mind could not form of picture of her life without them in it, or Hei-Ran, or.... Kelsang?

“Kelsang!” Kyoshi rushed to her foster father and wrapped him in a platypus bear hug. He was being crushed, but she couldn’t bear to let go; something made her afraid to. Tears were streaming down her face. Why, she had no idea, “I’ve missed you so much.”

“Aw, really?” He finally managed to wriggle out of Kyoshi’s amazingly strong hold on him and took his sleeve to her face, wiping away her tears like he did when she was a child, “I wasn’t gone all _that_ long. And I thought your new wife would have kept you so busy you wouldn’t even know I was missing.”

“I’ll always know when you’re not around. I miss you every second that you’re away.” She whispered earnestly, like she was finally getting a chance to redeem herself for a missed opportunity. The tears were coming down her face again, this time she cleaned them herself. Why was she so emotional? “I love you; you know.”

“I love you, too.”

“Kyoshi.” Rangi interjected, slightly hesitant and more than slightly concerned, “Are you sure you’re alright?”

“I told you, I’m fine.”

“She’s been acting strangely, and claims it was because of a weird dream.” So her fiery wife was telling her father on her? Really?

“I’m fine. And she’s being ridiculous.”

“Now Kyoshi, be grateful that you have a wife who cares enough to worry about you.” He patted her head just to annoy her, as if Rangi’s smug expression wasn’t enough, “Now why are you behaving strangely?”

“You...” she didn’t even want to say it aloud, the image of Kelsang’s head coming off his shoulders made her physically ill “you were dead in my dream. Jianzhu killed you.”

“Well, that would be inconvenient, I wouldn’t be able to wish you a happy birthday. But here I am, safe and sound thanks to you and Yun.” Yes, Kyoshi had no idea what would have happened if Yun hadn’t finally managed to firebend.

*****

_In a rage, flames came out of his nose and mouth, burning the fumes of Jianzhu’s numbing incense and giving him full command of his body. He saved Kyoshi from the spirit’s grasp and attacked his own teacher for trying to sacrifice his love to Father Glow Worm._

_The battle would become the stuff of legends. It was a fight of experience verse talent, and talent was having breathing as each intake of air aggravated his burning nose and throat. Kyoshi laid on the ground, trying to help. If she could just move. There was nothing she could do while the two masters altered the landscape with their powerful bending._

_Then Kelsang came in. Injured and barely able to stand. Jianzhu saw this as an edge he could get in on his opponent and took it. The airbender’s daughter watched in horror as he was used as a hostage, a sickle of earth placed by his throat._

_Jianzhu apologized to his friend, he would explain later... if the Avatar could be reasonable. Then he tried to smooth things over with Yun. No one died that day, yet. Kyoshi was fine. But even if Father Glow Worm had taken her, she would have given her life to secure Yun’s position as the Avatar. He would have made sure that she was honored for her sacrifice. As it had played out, Avatar Yun was the hero of the day, and the older man was sure that his student’s girlfriend would like to show her appreciation for saving her life._

_When the play to his apprentice’s teenage hormones hadn’t worked, the noble changed his approach slightly. No one could challenge his avatarhood now, there was no need for anyone to get hurt. Yun just had to think with his head, not his heart. They could all go back to the mansion and to their lives. Oh, he understood, Yun would never truly forgive him, and he couldn’t blame the boy. ‘At your age, I thought love was the most important thing, too’, he’d chuckled as a father would when retelling stories of his youth, ‘but I grew up and learned better’. He assured his pupil that in time he would see that his master’s actions were for his own good. Without him, Yun would still be a fireless Avatar._

_But this had been the final crack, the statue that was Yun’s admiration for his teacher, his savior, shattered and the breeze blew the dust away. Jianzhu was a man who believed that the ends always justified the means, that was the thinking of tyrants. He didn’t say this naturally, no Yun was too clever for that. Unfortunately, the Earth Noble saw right through the Avatar’s flowery words and pushed the sickle in Kelsang’s skin just enough to draw blood._

_Kyoshi demanded that Jianzhu let her father go, or she would kill him herself. He actually laughed. She may have raw power, but she was still nothing. A beggar who couldn’t defeat a novice, much less a master. She wasn’t even worth addressing. He said all this to Yun, reminding him Kelsang wasn’t the only person he cared about who was in danger. As if he could forget._

_Enraged, and trusting her boyfriend’s abilities with their lives, Kyoshi punched the ground as hard as the poison would let her. The column shot Jianzhu and Kelsang into the air, far too high to use earthbending. As they came down, just before the villain could call to the earth, Yun threw a rock spear at his former master’s heart. His bending was always so precise._

_Kelsang was caught on an earth slide of Yun’s making and simply skidded his way to safety. Jianzhu was defeated. Kyoshi was revealed to be nothing more than a rather unique bender. Avatar Yun could officially begin his firebending training. There were tears over the friend Jianzhu once was. In the whole world, it seemed like Kyoshi was the only one not mourning his death. Yun worked hard to keep the Earth Kingdom from falling apart, but he did it._

*

Yun demanded that Kyoshi teach him how to bend such great amounts and from such great distances. Which led to a rather complicated system of him teaching her how to bend properly so they could figure out what she’d been doing so different all along. And now...Avatar Yun could break the world in two if he felt so inclined, Kyoshi could bend a fist-sized rock, Kelsang was alive and well, Rangi was serving a beloved Avatar, and Hei-Ran enjoyed tormenting her pupil more than she let on. All was as well as it could be. There was no need for nightmares.

“I know you’re safe, it was just so real...” she tried not to picture his head coming off at his scar line. It was very difficult.

“Maybe you were just worried about me.”

“She was.” Rangi rolled her eyes, “She’s been sending out hawks daily since you left.”

“Tattletale.” Kyoshi huffed, her wife didn’t seem offended.

“We really need to teach you to loosen up, Kyoshi. Look at Rangi, even **_she_** has more fun than you. No offense, Rangi.”

“None taken.”

“Hey, I can have fun. This morning **_she_** was no fun at all. She even kicked me out of bed.” A punch to the arm came out of nowhere, “Hey!”

“It’s not my fault she slept too late. If she’d been up earlier, we could’ve-“ it was at this point Rangi realized that she was talking to her father-in-law and blaming his sweet baby girl for the missed morning orgasm. That was not something one spoke with their father-in-law about, “...cuddled.”

“Ah, the joys of adulthood. Suddenly you’re married and there’s simply no time for...cuddling.” Hei-Ran appeared from nowhere, like mother like daughter. Kelsang laughed gently at the reddening of Rangi and Kyoshi’s faces. Why they were still embarrassed for he or Hei-Ran to mention such things was a mystery. They were married, and even before that, everyone on the estate had already learned to sleep through the occasional light earthquake originating from Kyoshi’s bedroom. There had been no reason to pretend they weren’t sexually active for the last three years.

Kyoshi could feel Hei-Ran’s amused smirk as Rangi suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled her along to meet with Yun.

* * *

“Kyoshi! You have to wake up!”


End file.
